This excerpt from the Washington Times explains why Pawlenty may be going out of his way to show off his conservative credentials. "Another big surprise, veteran summit participants said, was Mr. Pawlenty's Friday evening speech, which went over exceptionally well with an audience that knew little about him until he spoke. Mr. Pawlenty, who many religious conservatives said they assumed was a social moderate, given that he is from Minnesota, quoted from the Bible and had much of the audience virtually transfixed and quoting the same passages with him."

"Republicans acknowledge they have a challenge of trying to tap into the energy of their angry base without turning off moderate and independent voters," Roll Call writes.